The 'Official' blog of the University of North Dakota Women's Hockey Program. Here you will find News, Video-Clips, Stories, Stats, and much more!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Indicators of your next Success!

Has been a long couple of weeks on the road working camps but I have come back with a ton of great information. Here is a terrific e-mail blast from Ryan Walter, I need to get him in to speak with our team soon.

What if I told you of a secret that the best in the world utilize to stay ahead of their opponents… would you take the next 4 minutes to think through how you could apply this to your life?

In his great read Talent is Overrated, author Geoff Colvin has a section on how the best in the world have developed their abilities to look for small, significant “Indicators” that give them an edge.

“Just as top tennis players look at the server’s body, not at the tennis ball, excellent performers in other fields have learned to spot non-obvious information that’s important.

More than 30 years ago, Sam Walton found an innovative way to gauge customer satisfaction. He realized that the best indicator of how happy his customers were was to measure how happy his employees were; the way managers treat the employees was the way employees would treat the customers.

What “Indicators” do you use in your sport, business or family?

Coaches at the NHL level have become very astute at developing “indicators” of how certain opposition teams will play their game.

Because video is used so efficiently to pre-scout opponents, coaching staffs will look for team trends or “indicators” on team tendencies in the areas of breakouts, fore-checks, power play setups and much more.

Many old NHL forwards like me developed simple “indicators” that could help us understand future moves or trends. One that I remember specifically: while driving wide with the puck on a defenseman in the offensive end we (forwards) would always watch the defenseman’s feet (or skates). As soon as that defenseman started to turn from skating backwards to pivoting to skate forward we would try our inside lateral move knowing that it was harder for the “D” to respond with his or her skates turned the wrong way.

The best in the world understand the significance of “indicators” in giving them the edge. What “indicators” have you developed in your life and business and what future “indicators” could you creatively develop to help you win tomorrow?